I have been on a sugar binge for the past week. My weakness has been Reese's Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter Cups. I guess I'm not the only one, the rest of the family has been beating me to the candy bag. I had seen a few recipes for peanut butter balls as my sister-in-law used to have a recipe that had graham crackers as well as confectioner's sugar in the recipe. I found a great recipe in the Boston Globe called "Peanut Butter Balls". It was submitted by Kriston Welch and it had all the ingredients I was looking for.
As I read the recipe, I decided I was going to use some of the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter which I had recently purchased from Whole Foods Market. The peanut butter, being all natural, was a little drier than the store bought brand, so I choose to increase the amount of peanut butter necessary for the recipe. I also didn't have wax, so I used vegetable oil, about 1 tablespoon.
They were very easy to make and I had about 36 balls rolled and dipped in one hour. One note, I dipped the balls and placed them on a cooling rack with parchment paper under them. I would suggest placing them on parchment paper or let them cool and move them before you put them into the refrigerator. Not paying attention, I placed the rack into the refrigerator and had a difficult time taking them off. So much for trying to make perfect peanut butter balls.
The taste was delicious. I love the dark chocolate with the smooth crunchiness of the peanut butter. I didn't get to taste any last night so I made up for it by having two for breakfast. Twenty four hours after making them, there are 3 left. I was able to bring them to work along with giving a few to my neighbors.
I'm sitting here contemplating whether to eat one more today or save them until tomorrow because breakfast is right around the corner.
Ingredients:
1 cup of Whole Food's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
1 cup of Skippy Chunk Peanut Butter
(NOTE: If you are not using a natural brand of peanut butter (like Whole Foods) use 1 1/2 cups of peanuts butter (total) rather than the 1 cup of dark chocolate peanut butter and 1 cup of Skippy Chunk Peanut Butter)
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 /4 cups of confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup of melted margarine or butter
Pinch of Salt
2 cups of dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 to 2 ounces of paraffin wax (This is available at craft stores in candy section. I have also been able to find it in the grocery store in the area where they sell canning supplies.)
Preparation:
1. Line a tray with parchment or waxed paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the 2 peanut butters, graham cracker crumbs, and confectioner's sugar. Mix well. (I used my hands to break the mixture into crumbs.) Pour in the melted margarine or butter and salt. Mix well with your hands until thoroughly combined. With a spoon, scoop up a piece of the peanut butter mixture. Roll it between your palms, forming it into a ball about the size of a cherry tomato. Place onto covered sheet. Place in refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
3. Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler set over simmering water. Add the wax, stirring to melt it.
4. Using a dipping tool, plastic fork, or toothpick, dip the peanut butter ball into the chocolate mixture, rolling it to coat it completely. Carefully transfer back to the tray. Repeat with remaining peanut butter mixture and chocolate. If chocolate starts to harden, return it briefly to a low heat to melt again.
5. Refrigerate the tray of balls for 1 hour or until they are firm. Store at room temperature.
